This workshop focused on sharing our faith-- and one of the short video clips that they used featured the comedian, Penn Teller, an atheist that speaks out often against Christianity. In this short clip, he talks about an experience after a show where a guy gave him a Bible-- what struck me though, Penn says, "How much do you have to hate a person to not tell them the truth?" He uses the example, if you see a truck coming at a person and don't tackle them to protect them, how much must you hate them? Go here if you want to watch the clip.
He is an atheist and he understands how bold we must be for Jesus if we really, truly believe in Him.
I challenge you, if you do believe in Jesus, step outside of your comfort zone and tell someone! And if you don't believe in Jesus, I challenge you, why?
This clip from Fireproof struck me as valuable to share with both Believers and nonbelievers...because I love you too much not to tell you the truth:
I watched the first video which was interesting. I have two questions that aren't relevant to this post. What is McClean Bible Church's stance on evolution and creationism? What is your stance?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I also got your letter. Did you intentionally match the sticker on the back of the envelop with the postage stamp? Either way, it made me smile.
This clip has a number of intellectual incongruities:
ReplyDelete1) Jesus died to save us. So, what else do we need to do? He took the sacrifice, we're good, right?
2) Where is salvation for those who don't hear "the Word" or who lived in pre-Christian times?
3) It's one thing to love someone, but it's another thing to be in an unhealthy relationship. Now, I haven't seen this movie and sure as hell won't, but is this saying that, no matter how bad a relationship is, divorce isn't the answer?
4) What good is a religion that doesn't see value in good people?
What good is a God that, regardless of how good of a person you are, only through recognition of Him will you receive eternal salvation?
Furthermore, wouldn't enjoying His creation be a more appropriate form of worship? Along with the finite life given? If Heaven is supposed to be so much better than Earth, then isn't that denigrating creation?
Mostly I just want to comment about the last question Michael raised. I don't think Heaven & Earth's glory is mutually exclusive. Just because Heaven is...well, Heaven, doesn't mean that God's creation is worthless. It is, after all, still His creation. However, it is not where He dwells completely. Heaven is wonderful because all of the impurities of Earth are stripped away and we are left with only the good because it is refined by God's whole presence. On Earth, we see God & His Kingdom dimly, because we are seeing the products of His creation and the workings of His hand. But Earth is not pure, as Heaven is. So we cannot see God wholly. It is not until Heaven that we see "face-to-face".(shout out to Paul & 1 Corinthians 13:12)
ReplyDeleteSo, yes, Earth is still God's special creation and we can appreciate the gifts God gives us here because of His hand in things here. He is still at work here, and in those creations and blessings, we find Him and His beauty.
I'll let Kim work on the others, but I'm happy to give my 2 cents if she would like. I just don't have time for more at the moment.